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Body Wishes

January 13, 2010

The Beatles wanted to hold your hand. AC/DC advised you to shake a leg. Peter Gabriel looked in your eyes. But how often, really, are various body parts mentioned in pop songs? Now we know, thanks to this fascinating visual map of songs and the anatomical terms contained within them. Fleshmap, the concern that has produced this incredible resource, has previously created maps that track where on their bodies people like to be touched and how breast shapes vary. My friend Madeleine found it first, so I should credit her, but mainly I should credit the map itself, which divides its findings by genre so that you can learn (if you did not already know) that hip-hop focuses on the derriere, while gospel likes the hand and only .52 percent of heavy metal songs mention teeth.

The results, while fascinating, might need a little massaging: in the hip-hop category, “ass” and “booty” are considered separate words, though in my experience they generally refer to the same body part. (The chart also separates terms for other, even more intimate body parts.) The chart for country music is below.